It's been said before but our expectations for this guy have gone down so much it's sad. We're happy he was able to do a little work for Bala at Flèche and this is a guy that did an incredible early Mur attack just 4 years ago and hung on for the podium.

jaylew wrote:It's been said before but our expectations for this guy have gone down so much it's sad. We're happy he was able to do a little work for Bala at Flèche and this is a guy that did an incredible early Mur attack just 4 years ago and hung on for the podium.

Yeah, what a difference four years makes!

Darryl Websterwrote: "Nothing seems to blind peeps as much as patriotism does it!"

Regarding Unzue figuring him out: I hope Betancur has figured himself out... He is 4 years older and maybe, he has found more inner peace and focus on racing.

Yes, he will start in Liège.

It's not very surprising he's building some nice form, he's incredibly talented so with enough race days he automatically reaches some good shape. With this shape he's clearly a valuable rider for Movistar, but he should aim higher and be a (co-)leader again, fighting for the win on the highest level. Tour de Romandie could be a good race to go stage hunting, with no Valverde / Quintana in the team.

The real test, however, will be the Vuelta, which he is scheduled to ride. If he's again overweight by then, he learned nothing from the past years. Some say: "Send him to the Giro, because his form is good now", but I really want to see if he has figured himself out and can start with a good condition in the Vuelta, even after he went to Colombia to 'rest'.

Having said this, I still think some people here treated him a bit unfair after his streak of DNF's in the Flemish races.

I don't have the feeling he says much, but with my limited knowledge of Spanish I think I missed some things. Is he saying something interesting? He wants to be at an ideal weight after Romandie, then he'll race Dauphiné or Suisse?

He says his actual form is close to the one he had 1 year ago. He'll ride the Romandie and wants to be in ideal weight in Switzerland and, after the Tour of Suisse, he'll see what his next goal will be.

He also said the usual blah blah, that his team supports him immensely.

However, I had some trouble with the audio, so do not take this as 100% right.

I don't have the feeling he says much, but with my limited knowledge of Spanish I think I missed some things. Is he saying something interesting? He wants to be at an ideal weight after Romandie, then he'll race Dauphiné or Suisse?

I hope we see him in the last hour of todays race!

You got it right, just missed the altitude training after Romandie and the many times he said he is "tranquilo"

lenric wrote:He says his actual form is close to the one he had 1 year ago. He'll ride the Romandie and wants to be in ideal weight in Switzerland and, after the Tour of Suisse, he'll see what his next goal will be.

He also said the usual blah blah, that his team supports him immensely.

However, I had some trouble with the audio, so do not take this as 100% right.

It's not the audio. He speaks very low, almost like he has a speech impediment. Like he either woke up or is drunk with slurred speech. All his interviews are like that. In most languages, there is an understated rhythm of ups and down with words, I'm not talking about the accents within the word, I'm talking about rhythm of words and sentences. He has a very unique way of speaking. I'm constantly rewinding and watching his interviews because of this and I'm a native Colombian. Uran speaks with a sense of familiarity with you, he is very relaxed, lots of puns and easy to understand. Nairo is VERY calculated. He speaks like a good writer, every word has a need, does not use a lot of words to explain something that can be covered with one. Very intelligent. Carlos? not at all. He says the right things, (Henao comes to mind, but Sergio projects, "pronouncates" (not sure if that word exists, but it fits)) but Carlos, you can't understand at it at first. It isn't a regional dialect issue, at least, I don't think it is.

gospina wrote:He speaks very low, almost like he has a speech impediment.

IMHO he pronounces things just fine. He's just a bit of a basso profondo who tends to drift a little bit in and out of full focus while he's talking. Sure, he isn't a particularly great orator, but I have absolutely no issues understanding what he's saying.

He went out hard on the prologue. I wonder (perhaps wistfully) if he's targeting GC at Romandie. Also, to be a bit more precise, he's saying that he's going to do "a month at altitude in order to go ... [this is the in and out thing I mentioned earlier] to finish being like at the right weight and then reach Dauphine or Suisse and then see what's next in the season". I wonder if he sees whichever of those two he rides as an audition for the Vuelta.

"Christmas is tomorrow... Let's get in the break." - Matt Hayman, 4/9/16"What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness." - Tolstoy

gospina wrote:He went out hard on the prologue. I wonder (perhaps wistfully) if he's targeting GC at Romandie. Also, to be a bit more precise, he's saying that he's going to do "a month at altitude in order to go ... [this is the in and out thing I mentioned earlier] to finish being like at the right weight and then reach Dauphine or Suisse and then see what's next in the season". I wonder if he sees whichever of those two he rides as an audition for the Vuelta.

I don't think a GC is realistic in Romandie, although his shape is going in the right direction. He should go for a stage win, but you need a bit of luck for that.

The altitude training is interesting. Does it mean he goes back to Colombia, or just altitude training in Europe? Did he ever do such an altitude training in Europe?

There really is a sense of optimism going right now. He will do fine at Romandie, but thats not really that interesting, the interesting thing is how he will approach the month between Romandie and Suisse. If he shows up overweight again at Suisse its pretty much doneso at Movistar. If he doesn'tt he will do well and get selected for the Vuelta-squad (maybe even TdF?) and probably get an extension. He decides.

I must say I haven't really paid as much attention to this thread as so many here clearly have, but Betancur's career is classic case of 'what could have been.' This guy makes look Ullrich look like Zabel. I am sure Ullrich is somewhere thinking 'man, this Betancur dude is some kind of lazy is too fat to ride a bike.' Of course Ullrich's career is LIGHT YEARS ahead of Betancur's, despite Ullrich's own battles against laziness and weight issues.

In the shadow of the Giro d'Italia, it looks like Carlos Betancur is training hard. His last three photos on Instagram (it must be an unicum for him to post three training-related pictures in a row) are showing a lean Betancur, riding in the mountains of Andorra. Everything shaping up to see the old Betancur in the Vuelta?

His next race is normally that Hammer Serie Race, which I assume should be followed by the Tour de Suisse.